The light lowered for a moment, then returned to brightness when she turned back to face them. Her face showed every sign of being in real distress. Bucky had been on edge the whole time. Even though the room appeared empty, his eyes shifted constantly around the room, pausing at every dark corner out of sheer habit.
"You brought us from a Sanctum. A sorcerer, our friend Wong lives there," Steve said. "You didn't know?"
"He was weak. We could not bring him here. I doubt you would wish to put your friend is such danger." Regina paced. The dignified woman's behavior was becoming more undignified by the moment. Bucky suspected if she were alone she would cry.
"He won't leave the Sanctum," Steve said. "He has to protect our world. He told us the Blending was a one-time thing. Time and the cosmos had to align just right. He also told us he believed higher forces were at work, using us for their own ends. Even if you could bring him here, I don't think it would do any good. I'm sorry. If we could help you, we would… ."
"After all our hard work, after everything we've done, I refuse to give up," she said, more to Regulus, her voice full of frustration. "There must be a way…"
"We promised no force, no unnecessary risk." His voice was low but Bucky heard it. Steve caught his eye, revealing he did too.
"But this is about our survival as a people. We can't have come so far and not… what will the Council say? They were against this from the beginning and now…"
They had a Council. People they answered to unless this whole thing was a charade put on for their benefit. Bucky mentally ticked off the way the Consortiums used to operate. False backstories was a classic.
"There might be a way…" Bruce stepped forward. He appeared a little hesitant. "This is a long shot, but we might have something, maybe…," he looked to Steve as if for permission. Steve nodded.
"I'm willing to listen to anything. How can you help us if not by magic?" Regina asked.
"Before we told T'Challa what happened, he had his people investigating the phenomenon we call the Blending. I was working with them, keeping an eye on them, curious about what they would find out and they were close… I mean, the laws of physics should be the same here shouldn't they?"
"Go on," Regulus said.
"If you can send T'Challa and me back, to gather our research, and bring it here and show your people. Theoretically, maybe... we could reverse engineer something. Maybe develop a working non-magical theory of how it all happened. It will be better than nothing."
Regina's face lit up, literally. The room grew a little brighter. "It is a faint hope, but I accept your offer. You are strong enough to travel there and back. I must take this proposal to the Council. We will return." The lights lowered, then came back up. Regina and Regulus had vanished from the room.
Bucky kept his eyes trained to the empty room around them, ready to respond to any sudden movement. "Do you think they're watching us?" he asked. "Can they hear us?"
"It seems they have been observing us for some time," T'Challa said. "We apparently have few secrets from them." Bucky flushed at the idea, wondering how much they had seen.
"They've only been able to do it bursts. Mostly to grab what information they thought they needed. Or that's what they told me at least. It's not like they were following us to the bathroom or anything," Parker said. "They were looking for people… like us and when I told them Cap and Doctor Banner were part of the original group, they were really excited about it. They honestly thought we could help. I didn't know they didn't have any wizards." His fingers flicked to his wrist and a long string of webbing appeared which he threw upward and stuck to the ceiling. He pulled himself and did a quick survey, crawling around above them, holding his ear to the ceiling. He flipped himself back down to ground level. "Nothing up there but vents. They have to have some kind of environmental controls somewhere."
Small sparks escaped from Wanda's fingers, exploring the walls. " We are alone. I can find no evidence of any security devices or the source for the light. There is something curious about this place," she said. "Everything, the floor, the walls, even though they give off an illusion of a normal room, are of the same material as if someone carved it out of stone. I've seen nothing else like it. This place, whatever it is, is very secure."
"Something about it looks familiar, but I can't place it," Steve said. "And there is something else, at the edge of my memory that's trying to break through."
"Which is unusual, considering you and I can remember just about everything," Bucky said. "They found out enough about us to know what we need to stay alive. They are capable of providing oxygen, that is if they don't already use it themselves. They are keeping us in here for a reason. Either don't want us to leave because it would be dangerous for us out there…"
"Or could it be their true form is really ugly? Maybe they all look like bugs or something… and they didn't want to scare us," Peter supplied. "Or maybe this is like a big lab, like Mr. Stark's and they are just holograms or…"
"Or perhaps we appear hideous to them," T'Challa said, allowing a small smile to escape. "And they did not wish to frighten their own people. Or this is a means to protect us from that plague. Curious that the blending did not reach here. Are they so isolated to the point something protected them from Thanos' machinations?"
"I remember something!" Steve said, snapping his fingers. "It's vague, but someone else told me that there were higher forces at work here. They helped us to blend because it helped them."
"Who?" Bruce asked.
"It came to me in a dream when I was in that coma, but…" Steve bit his lip and closed his eyes. He was struggling to remember, to concentrate. It was rare for anyone to see him like this. His face relaxed as he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, that's all I have." He walked over to the place where Regina and Regulus had been standing. "I think we should see this through. Help them. To stand in the way of this might lead to other problems but at the same time, stay skeptical."
"If they're telling the truth, we can give them a start," Bruce said. "And maybe, in the meantime, learn more about them," Bruce said, sounding almost eager. Ever the scientist.
"We seem to have little choice in the matter," Wanda said. "The sooner we help them, the sooner we can return. I wish I could examine them more closely, find out more about how their illusions work, but it is risky. We don't know their defenses."
"I'm not sensing any danger," Peter proclaimed. "I haven't since I came here. I believe them."
"What about you Bucky?" Steve asked. "What's your assessment?" The whole group turned their attention toward him.
"You know me, I have major trust issues," he said, allowing himself to smile to break the tension. "If this is a deception, if they have some kind of ulterior motive, then it's one of the most elaborate ones I've ever seen or been a part of. This took time. All of this wasn't just dreamed up on a moment's notice. Are we even on another planet? Maybe we're just in some weird place on earth….?"
"We don't know," T'Challa said. "This may all be smoke and mirrors…"
"But why?" Bucky asked. "What do we have they could want? Do they want to get their hands on your research?"
"There would be no need for this masquerade," T'Challa said. " If they have been spying on us, they would know that all they would have to do is ask. But I believe Regina's distress was real. I recognized the burden of having to protect a kingdom. I have traveled on the astral plane and seen gods and monsters fall from the sky. I have seen the dead return, in a manner of speaking. After all of that, in this place, does not seem such a fantastical idea. I agree with Captain Rogers. We are here at their mercy and alive by their good favor. We should see this through."
The group went silent.
Steve rubbed his hands through his hair and let out a long sigh. He stared out into the soft nothingness of the room for a few moments, then singled out T'Challa and whispered something in his ear. T'Challa pulled back, slightly surprised and nodded. That sparked an idea in Bucky's mind. He didn't like being alone here, defenseless against these people. As soon as Steve left him, he cornered the man himself.
"Shuri programmed my arm with certain enhancements…" he kept his voice low.
"Yes, and she disabled them," he said whispered back, keeping his eyes on the rest of the group.
"Would it be possible for you to enable them again?" Bucky asked. T'Challa drew back, a question on his face. "Not to hurt anyone, I don't want to kill anybody, just… shock them, like a taser."
"A taser? We know nothing about these people. Such a weapon might not faze them and those applications involved training…"
"I get that. I would feel better if we had at least one weapon. We're all capable of defending ourselves, but…"
A smile followed T'Challa's sigh. "Once a soldier, always a soldier. Very well, You ask for little and I owe you everything. If they let us go, I'll bring back what we need. We'll tell them it's needed for maintenance for your arm."
"Thank you," Bucky said. The room darkened then; then glowed again, and they were there. That was fast!
"The Council has agreed to the two of you returning but it must be quick. Gather only what you need and return. The rest of you could return with him if you wish, but you will live in a state of suspended animation."
"You mean frozen?" Bucky asked bluntly. He and Steve exchanged a glance. The programming was out of his head, but the memories remained. "If it's ok with you, I'll pass on that. Not a fan." He didn't want to go to sleep and maybe wake up a hundred years older, again.
"Neither am I," Steve said. "I'll stay. The rest of you are free to go or stay."
"Can we see them?" Peter asked. "The people still there?"
Regina and Regulus exchanged a glance. "I don't see what harm that would do and it perhaps it would prove to you we are true to your word. We went to great care to not interfere with your timeline," he said.
She waved her arms in a circle and a portal appeared before them. An image of Tony, in his bed with the monitors, Pepper Potts by his side. The image changed to Peter's Aunt May, standing motionless by a window, then to a sleeping Natasha, a worried-looking Clint at her bedside, the hand of an unseen woman on his shoulder. Bruce took a step forward at the image of the two, his hands clenched. It was obvious the image disturbed him.
"I should be there," he said to himself, his voice low, but Bucky heard him. "I should have gone back with her."
The scene switched to Rhodey, sleeping in what appeared to be a military hospital, a doctor at his side. Then it dissolved and became Shuri standing still in her lab, talking with Vision, a shot of Sam and Thula, on a hillside overlooking an African plane and finally to Bucky's neighbors, frozen in time during their evening meal. The scene returned to Shuri's lab.
Wanda took a step toward the portal, reaching out her hand as if to touch it but she pulled back. "I would like to remain alert, aware, so I can watch over Viz, even if only from a distance," she said.
"I feel the same way about Aunt May, and Mr. Stark and the rest of them," Peter said.
"I cannot fall into such a state and leave my people unwatched," T'Challa said.
"Then we agree," Steve said. "We stay."
"Very well. We will take care of our needs. The sooner we can process this information, the sooner you can return home."
Regina turned her attention to Bruce and T'Challa. "It will disorient you, traveling back again and seeing what you will see but you must be quick. Bring back only what you need. Go," She nodded toward T'Challa and Bruce who exchanged a quick mutual look. They walked through, disappearing along with the portal. The light lowered, and Regina and Regulus once again faded into the darkness.
"So I will ask the unasked question," Bucky said. "That portal. Is that what Doctor Strange's portals looked like?" he asked Peter.
"Yes… they did…" Peter answered. His skewed his face up as if he were just considering this for the first time.
"So, how did they know how to do that if they have no wizards?"